Page 95 of Kingdom of Feathers

King Lloyd’s eyes narrowed at this casual speech, but he didn’t immediately respond. His wife was still tugging on his sleeve, and he looked at her at last. Following her gaze, he seemed to remember Wren’s presence, and a scowl crossed his face at sight of his daughter’s nightgown, which wasn’t entirely concealed by her thick cloak. “Wren,” he said curtly, and with a passable assumption of dignity, “come and stand beside your mother.”

When Wren made no move, Basil turned his head to look at her. She shook her head firmly, her face set in stubborn lines. A small thrill went through Basil as she took a step toward him, clearly indicating her intention to stand by him through whatever was coming.

“It is clearly necessary to have guards trail you,” snapped King Lloyd, his eyes back on Basil. Perhaps predictably, given the public setting, he seemed to be taking out his annoyance on Basil rather than on the daughter who was defying him. “Given you otherwise sneak around my castle like a thief.” In spite of his efforts, the Mistran king’s eyes flashed again to Wren, and Basil thought he had a fairly good idea what King Lloyd thought he’d been trying to steal.

Basil ignored the irate king, turning to Wren. “It’s all right,” he told her quietly. “You should go and—”

She silenced him with a glare, then jerked her head toward Sir Gelding, as if to say,Get on with it. Basil realized all at once that she didn’t have her slate—she’d handed it to him to read, and he’d dropped it by the pond when she took off running—so he would have to be their combined voice for now.

“Your Majesty,” he said, turning to King Lloyd. “I had hoped to discuss this matter with you privately, but if this is the setting you choose, I don’t want to delay for another moment before telling you what I discovered at the front lines.”

“I’ve already been informed of the mine my daughter discovered under the battleground,” said King Lloyd in a hard voice. “A mine from which Entolians have been extracting not only iron, but fire jasper.”

Another gasp swept around the room, and Basil bowed his head in acknowledgment. “Both Entolians and Mistrans I believe, Your Majesty. I have reason to think that there’s been a collaboration between—”

“I’ve heard the story you’ve filled my daughter’s ears with,” the king cut in over him. “And you’ll find I’m not so gullible.”

Wren shifted in place, and when Basil glanced at her, he saw she was glaring at her father. But the king didn’t look at her, his gaze still fixed on Basil. “If there’s a secret mine set up in the ore field, it’s a creation of the Entolian crown.”

“I assure you, King Lloyd, it is not,” said Basil curtly. “I’m embarrassed to acknowledge that neither I nor my general knew anything of it before my recent trip to the battlefield.”

King Lloyd’s disdain was visible, but Basil’s attention was distracted by movement at the side of the room. His own retinue had just edged into the space, Lord Baldwin looking pale and horrified, the merchant couple tense and watchful, and Sergeant Obsidian frankly curious.

“You have taken advantage of my hospitality,” said King Lloyd, his voice shaking slightly. “Not only have you deceived me in relation to your activities at the front lines, but you have lured the princess away from the safety of her home, endangering her by placing her in the middle of a battlefield.”

A glance over at Wren showed her groping fruitlessly in her empty pocket, practically crying with frustration.

Basil opened his mouth to defend himself, but Sir Gelding beat him to it. “I wish that was all he’d done, Your Majesty,” he said, his voice pained. “But I’m afraid what I witnessed in the gardens this morning goes well beyond that.”

The king narrowed his eyes at the baronet. “What do you mean, Sir Gelding?”

The enchanter cast a delicate look between the princess and the visiting king. “I wouldn’t wish to air, ah…personal matters in a public setting.”

Basil gritted his teeth. Sir Gelding was clearly enjoying this.

“Having just done so by implication,” snapped out King Lloyd, “I think you’d best set the record straight, Sir Gelding.”

Sir Gelding cleared his throat. “Well, Your Majesty, I was walking in the gardens this morning when I stumbled across what I can only describe as a tryst. King Basil was…” he turned a malicious look upon Basil, “in conference with Princess Wren, by the pond.”

Wren stood straight, but Basil could see the flush of mortification that passed over her. Anger burned within him as mutters grew in the crowd, many pairs of eyes passing over Wren’s attire. Honestly Basil had barely noticed that Wren was in her nightgown when he woke her by the pond. He’d been a little distracted by her throwing herself into his arms and weeping as though her heart was breaking. A mystery he still had no solution for.

“What exactly are you implying, Sir Gelding?” King Lloyd said, through gritted teeth. The baronet clearly wasn’t winning any favor for himself, but at the same time, Basil could see in the king’s eyes that he was horribly afraid the accusation might be true.

“I was unable to help overhearing their conversation, Your Majesty,” said Sir Gelding, casting his eyes regretfully downward. “And with my own ears I heard King Basil seek Princess Wren’s acquiescence in an act of treason toward her king.”

Basil’s mouth fell open in astonishment. Whatever he’d expected, it hadn’t been that. He glanced at Wren, and saw that she looked equally nonplussed.

“Treason?” King Lloyd repeated skeptically. “Princess Wren?”

“I’m afraid I have suspected for some time,” Sir Gelding said, “from comments I have overheard from others in the Entolian delegation. But this morning’s conversation confirmed my fears. King Basil came to Myst with the intention not of ending the war with a mutually beneficial armistice, but of ending the war via a full Entolian annexation of Mistra.”

The muttering around the room grew to shocked whispers, and Basil couldn’t hold his ridicule in.

“That’s preposterous,” he said flatly. “King Lloyd, you know from your own experience that from the moment of my arrival, I’ve attempted to negotiate with you in good faith. I have no desire to annex Mistra, and even if I did, I would have no way to achieve it, as you must know.”

“No way prior to your relationship with Princess Wren,” cut in Sir Gelding smoothly. “What better way to combine the kingdoms under Entolian rule than have the Mistran heir defect from her own family and accept a lesser role as a non-ruling queen, standing beside the personable young king with whom we can all see she’s besotted.”

The crowd was muttering, but Basil hardly noticed them, his eyes locked with his accuser’s.

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